Sun 24th Dec - Merry Christmas To Ye All!

Just a brief one, have logged onto the Net at Bangkok airport en route form Siem Reap Cambodia to Koh Samui, Thailand! Was hoping to post more than this and the Opening Ceremony entry but it's a slow connection! To all of you I haven't spoken to over the last 7 weeks - I'm having a ball - as I hope this Blog shows - and can't wait to catch up with people and share a beer and swap stories.

So, a Merry Christmas to all of you and best wishes for the start to 2007. I'm praying that I can find Net access in Samui to give you guys a massive update on Qatarian life and how it all panned out in the end. There's also Egypt & now Cambodia to update too! Just wait til you hear about my final departure from Doha...! I'm laughing now (sort of), but then...!

Anyhoo, we'll be boarding in a few mins so thought I'd wish you all the best and here's to an ale & a story telling somewhere early in 2007! Have fun y'all.
Cheers, Tim & Rach

Fri 1st December, Opening Ceremony – Big Old D’oh In Doha (Or Doha II – Doharder)

(Photo's - as appeared before publish: The Prince, taken off on of the screens by me on the Field Of Play, The Qatary Athletes make their entrance, The Hero Horse & Prince are raised up by The Sun Stage, Storm Clouds visibly rolling across the City on their way to the Stadium, Super Tim & Super Kev (!), Adam & his old boss Andy from Royal Opera House UK.)

Well, today sucked. Easily the worst day of the entire 5 weeks so far. By lunchish there was huge black clouds everywhere and the forecast was for rain from midday thru until nine pm. With most of the rain scheduled to fall between 3pm & 6pm. It was an ominous feeling – knowing that year’s of planning & hundreds of thousands and probably a whole lot more dollars was looking in jeopardy due to rain in the desert! We were all on the 1330 bus and on the way in it started to trickle in – with a few flashes of lightning.

When we got to the Stadium it was in various levels of chaos. Every hour or so there was an announcement as to the weather situation. DAE was getting regular updates from the local US Army base and what needed to be done was changed as regularly as the updates were coming in. The main factor was the wind. As Doha is dead flat with no real valleys or buildings to deflect or channel the wind, it could pretty much do as it wanted. It was quite strong and was whipping the major storm this way and then changing it’s course severely all in a matter of minutes.

As there had been some rain overnight, the first call of the day was to go up and check our comms and spots were actually working and getting power. This suited myself & Kev as we wanted to get a few daylight shots from our positions and also wanted to test the theory of our Super Kev & Super Tim idea - cape, mask & all! After we’d checked mine and we were heading southwards to Kev’s possie the rain started coming in harder than the drizzle that had been hanging around for 2 hours. Despite this, we still took the Super K & T pic’s – completes the whole set now! Heading down the South end of the Arch was hard going. As we’ve been climbing up the North end, we’re used to the angle of the stairs but coming down the other side, especially when wet was a factor, it was actually quite difficult as the lean and the width of the steps were all reversed! As I’m writing this, I hope I remember to post a photo of the angle of the Arch so you can see what I’m talking about.

We walked back thru the inside of the Stadium and as we walked past the underside of the Eastern Stage, water was literally pouring in and it was a mass of people in various stages of wetness and with anything thrown onto provide some possible protection from the water – garbage bags, tarps, newspaper - frantically trying to get the water outside and away form the numerous set pieces & props that were stored in the area. Chatter over radio was depressing – all about ‘this new leak’, ‘so and so’s flooded’, ‘power out here’ etc. We got back to the Canteen and people were running everywhere – this is 3hrs before pregame stuff was scheduled to start. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned in earlier entries, because Doha only has 2 days of rain a year (!) there’s no infrastructure in regards to drainage. Pools of water were forming out on the Field Of Play, same as the roads and access areas outside the Stadium.

We were summoned to a meeting to get first hand info on the current state of affairs. 30% of the show had already been cut – most of the flying stuff, the really cool stuff, with so much more in doubt. Certain Set LX pieces were going out but would not be plugged up – 3 phase and a whole lotta water doesn’t mix well! We were also told that the show would be changing throughout the night as the weather allowed. We were given codes that would be given out over radio if we needed to evacuate or if it was a complete cancellation etc. “Would Read Team Leader please switch to Ch1” etc. At the moment the show had legs, but they were wobbly. Lightning strikes then came into play as a lot of the set pieces are complete metal structures. Myself, Kev & Jess & Aziz (who op from on top of Lucy), were handed over to OH&S in regards to if we went up or had to come down. If we saw any lightning of any kind we were to abandon positions, no matter where we were in the show!

We ran into some of the Bytecraft girls and they and the Procon gang were not having fun. Completely water logged units were being dropped off for repair, basically dried out and then sent upwards again. Not a happy place for those guys. I know what was happening from the LX side but you could tell that everyone was hurting. No one was angry or shitty – everyone had a smile on their face and you could see the resolve in everyone’s face to get it up and running, any way that was possible. It was one of the tightest feelings of ‘We’re in this together” and mateship that I’ve ever experienced.

By the time preshow entertainment came around it was pouring and god bless the crowd – in they came. Most of them with no wet weather gear at all. The action commenced and they loved it. They were cheering like crazy for the Orry section, loved the dancers and this was all stuff that had no tricks or anything. Azim, who was operating on the Field, couldn’t get his dome to refire and by 1830 he was out. Not going to get working and was way, way down on the priority list. 4 weeks of rehearsals for nothing. This is where the headspace kicked in of “I don’t care how wet, sick or other I get, I’m going to do my gig” – even if it meant lashing myself to the scaff and raising a fist and yelling at the sky!

It was wet up there and the jacket was a safe haven. I had doubts about the quality of the workmanship but it held. Upper body was dry but waist downwards was soaked. We’d been told to fire up and partially unwrap the domes but to not fully unwrap until just before our first cue. Nigh on 7pm when the real deal was due to start, myself, Kev, Jess & Aziz were ordered to power down, do a full wrap and descend. My heart sank. I wanted to stay but knew that if someone was making that call that it was warranted. Sure enough, bout a minute later, massive flash of lightning and a huge thunder clap. Wished the boys & girls the best of luck and did my standard ‘Happy Hunting’ call and turned my cans off and switched back to radio.

The four of us met up in the Krankenhaus not wanting it to be the end of the Opening for us. I prob would have cried. The radio chatter was insane – and we were only on the LX loop. It was literally like a movie scene when a ship has been attacked and people are yelling for systems checks, reports, divert power etc. There were lights that were having their breaker reset moments before they were due to be on & you heard “261, 267, 274 & 279 didn’t fire”, “Half of LX16 just went out”, “We got water seeping into Dimmer Room 12”. Carnage, absolute carnage.

Kev & I were determined to do something for the gig. We got in touch with Philby and told him to deploy us as he saw fit. We went off to the Eastern Stage and started helping shuffling stuff around and just getting in where we could. We ended up on the Field Of Play when the Seekers boat enters. By this stage the rain had eased – was still there but nothing as it had been for the last 2hrs. Managed to get a few photos and stood there wishing the Pearl Fishing Boats to fly up and over the Eastern side of the Stadium….nothing. Then there was the call on radio for Jess, Aziz, Kev & I to return to our possies. Looked at where we were at and figured that we had minimal time to harness back up and get up the Arch before the ‘Caravans Of Asia’ sequence commenced. I tell you what, the four of us have NEVER gotten into position that quickly before. I was first. Ripped the plastic off the front of the dome and tore a hole in the side so I could reach my iris, checked my sights and chimed in with “11 on cans”, to resounding cheers, followed moments later with “Kev here” and 5mins later, just into the Caravans, Jess & Aziz were back. You could hear the relief in Prem’s voice to now have 15 of 16 domes back! For the first hour, they’d been completely winging it with Adam & Paul having to chop and change in an attempt to cover the Eastern Side’s plot.

It was good to be back and for those of you who managed to catch the highlights package, the Caravans section was the only section of the Cultural part that ran at 100% - and this included all the screens/lifts raising and then revealing their ‘animal’ at the correct time! 1st time ever – a minor but oh so important victory! We then stayed up there for the rest of the show – despite the rain coming back quite heavily. And the wind! I have never operated, and prob never will, operate a dome in such conditions again! I basically got my wish of lashing myself in position. I physically had to put my full body weight against the dome to keep it in position as the wind would either be pushing it against me or trying to rip it from my hands – and let me tell you, there Lycians were’nt exactly lightweight! All the while I’m trying to wipe water from my eyes and actually see what it is I’m actually doming!

I won’t bore you now with details of what else didn’t happen but it was disastrous! The highlight of the night was the Hero Horse – myself & Kev were down as normal (just wetter!) and standing on the Field Of Play & at this stage we didn’t know if they were running with the Prince or the Runner…! As the Sun Stage revealed, there was the Prince! He rode up to near where his father was sitting, accepted the flame and then revealed his identity – up until that point the Emir had no idea that it was his son who was to have the honour of lighting the Cauldron (no one at this point knew about the Cauldorn)! The Prince had been sneaking out for months to attend rehearsals with the Cowboys!

I tell you what, I have never felt so much will be directed at any one thing before! It was lightly drizzling and as the Prince made the final turn and charged at the ramp, flame in hand, all the DAE staff on the Field (& I’m assuming everywhere else) took in a deep breath and just held it! The Prince rocketed up the first section – cleaner than he ever had before and commenced on the steeper section…. Half way up the ramp, the horse stumbles, rears a little and the Prince, who’s holding on for dear life, steadies and then, basically lying vertically, gets the horse to steady and coaxes it up the rest of the way! Well, there was a huge roar from the crowd but I can tell you that the roar from the DAE Staff was massive. It was a moment of huge relief and people hugging each other left right and centre! I had one guy speaking/yelling what could have been Spanish, hug me and kiss me on both cheeks! It was a feeling of massive relief as we all needed that moment to happen. The crowd went bezerk and kept on getting louder as the fire works began!

I went and sat in the office waiting for the others to get free from their positions, slowly forming a small pool at my feet (!), when Philby came in and stated “I’ve never seen an entire fucking rig just commit suicide within two hours.” Then he stated something unpleasant he had planned to do to the horse or Prince if they hadn’t made it up the ramp! It was such a devastating feeling – and I’ve only been involved for 6 weeks. As everyone arrived at the office, there were a few smiles but they felt kinda forced. We were glad it happens but nobody wants to watch something fall apart in front of their eyes.

Bout 20mins after the event had finished the rain just came bucketing down! Just as we all were leaving to catch the bus. So, sad, depressed and on the drier side of wet, we trudged out into a rainstorm in the desert, to catch a bus home to a party that not many of us felt like attending!

Just to fill you in on a few other facts from the night – of the 26 TV cameras covering the gig, by the end, only 12 were working! The bus drivers went on strike late in the afternoon which meant that around ¼ of the volunteer staff didn’t arrive until after the Qatar Flare Flag – which I watched from thru the window in the Krankenhaus. The athletes caused a mini riot at the end of the gig – they had been led to where they needed to cross to get to where buses were due to take them home, with some starting competition at 0600 the next morn, only to find the buses not there because the Emir had suddenly changed his mind and decided to leave the Stadium by a different road so there was no access! His Security detail had closed the road – effectively meaning that 2 of the 4 exits out of Kahlifa (for the 40,000 odd punters too) were now unusable! Remember, this all happened in the desert, during a massive rain storm, so, with only about 25 odd SM’s assigned to herd and then get the athletes on the buses, they were way outnumbered and when the buses were seen parked about two blocks away, they rioted, threw some punches at each other and ran for the buses!

When we did arrive home, we walked into Al Baker Gardens to find that the streets were rivers! Flooded! We were certain that there would be massive leaks inside but luckily there wasn’t but the entire street, bar a few islands (gotta love the ‘evenness’ of Qatarian workmanship), was ankle deep in water! I went up and had a shower first in a vain attempt to get the blood circulating again and to also escape the first 20mins of how crap it’d been etc. I know it’d been crap and didn’t need to discuss it further – the was a chunk of booze to get thru and for me, I can only really do that if there’s laughter etc. in the air. Most people disappeared for a little before arriving, some quiet reflection.

It ended up being a good night – well, we were on The Stoop! We realised that you could open up both sections of the front door & not just the section we’d been using for the last 4 weeks – didn’t take us too long! Therefore, this easily extended the Stoop inside and provided much shelter from the rain! Only 3 people ended up falling down the front stairs – marble does get mighty slippery when wet – through out the night and somehow, one of them wasn’t me! Twas a raucous night but nothing that you haven’t heard about already! It prob would have been a very different vibe had the rain not been around but it was a great night, don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as if we all just sat around with our chins in our hands, it had just been a LONG day the rain continued to fall!

We bid our last guests, The Cowboys our farewells around 0600 & sent them off to bed with a resounding rendition of ‘Glory Days’ by Bruce Springsteen, finally closed the front door and crashed ourselves!

Thurs 30th – All The Pieces Of The Puzzle!

(Photo's - The boats with their projection screens & the runner coming up on the Sun Stage)

We received word today that rehearsals may go late, at this stage to around 0130 – my, did that stir up a ruckus! You’re on how much a week? What’s your current hourly rate? How many hours have you had to wonder the streets of Doha and go shopping etc. over the last 4 weeks…? SLAP! Grrr!

Tonight was all the sections where there were bits and pieces missing. Tonight we saw the entire ‘Pearl Fishing’ sequence – complete with all 12 boats and 24 divers, the full & complete ‘City Of The Future’ with all the trimmings and a few other smaller sections. It was SO good to finally see it all together. Granted, it’s the night before the gig but it’s there and it’s ready! They stopped, started, re-stopped, went back, paused, discussed, restarted, changed bits and it was great to finally see these sections in all their glory! It was a pretty quiet night on cans, I think everyone was just watching and taking it all in. It was a weird feeling but one of those times in theatre when everyone just knew to be quiet – a collected silence.

We were all pretty sure that the 0130 finish would blow out as the finishing time had altered every other night and tonight was kind of important! I’d placed 10 riyal on 0330 and ended up being the latest taker. Some were ambitious and went for 0200 but I think they had their eyes on the $$ rather than reality! A surprise and sad piece that we rehearsed was the Hero Horse – minus the horse. Due to the last couple of rehearsals with audience, I guess they wanted a back up plan. We’d all assumed that it would be a Cowboy (they’ve NEVER failed the ramp yet!), dressed as the Prince and that they may show footage of the Price from the 2 x reh. Not to be. Guess Daddy Emir wouldn’t like that if it got found out. How or when they were going to decide to run with Plan B I don’t know but the idea was for Qatar’s long distance runner to come up on the Sun Stage, rather than the horse and then run up the ramp! So crap!

When we got wind of it there was a little noise on cans – especially those who had stayed back and followed a horse around & around and then up & down the ramp for countless hours over the last few weeks. Not whinging, just disappointment that they could see this cool section dropping out of the event. We all then started to discuss how we could make an even better way to light the cauldron – it was 0245 by this stage. Paul’s was one of my favourites – hand the flame to the Emir and then fly him into the Cauldron and the flame erupts and the Price rides up the ramp and claims the throne as his own! Ta da! I guess it makes more sense if you have an idea of how the stadium looks, anyway, it was funny!

There was one idea, based on the Orry’s of the preshow section, to have the runner guy do it but to the Benny Hill Theme. Now, as this was being discussed I suddenly remembered that I actually had the music on my iPod (thanks Berns!). Took me a second to find it and then figure out how I could hold the headphones to my mic whilst holding the ‘on’ switch down and pressing ‘play’. Got there just in time as the sun stage opened and the runner took off… I think it went down pretty well and the music nigh on fitted the length of the sequence pretty well. Unfortunately I couldn’t get David Atkins on the line to show him the idea! It would have been slightly more amusing if we could have recorded it and then sped up the footage!

Upon completion of rehearsals on the way back to the Bus, everyone came up humming the Benny Hill Theme and thanked me for doing it – they’d guessed it was me! I guess it was what everyone needed at the end of 10hrs of straight rehearsal! I like those moments – where you do something silly, not for the sake of silly, but to break the mood and snap peoples headspace & to have it acknowledged. I appreciate them even more when I’m on the receiving end. As you may have read, 10hrs of platform tonight! Longest innings yet so Benny was as much for my sanity as the others!

We bumped into Ryan (Shiny) in the carpark and he had discovered that there were no more buses heading back to his Compound & that it was impossible for taxi’s of any kind to come pick him up die to road closures and the security measures that had been put in place. Myself and Adam immediately offered him a beer on the Stoop and one of our Franco Cotzo couches to which he accepted. Oh yeah, 1730 reh, went for 10hrs – finishing time of….. 0330! 50 riyal, thank you very much!

Back on the Stoop by 0400 and we were pretty quiet – bout 7 of us, polished off a slab and then put Ryan to bed on the couch with the chance to get approx 2.5hrs of sleep in order to catch the 0730 bus to start work at 0800, the day of Opening! Myself & Adam decided that as we had offered Ryan the bed, we were also responsible for getting him up and onto the bus. We made a cup of tea and then proceeded to load up PS2 AFL – what better way to pass an hour or so!

I’ll divert away briefly here to inform you that I had also agreed to meet Julia at 1000 in order to head to the airport in a hopeful attempt to book flights to Cairo…! That’s right, we’ve found out that we have Sat thru at least Wed off and we are hopeful that we can get across to Cairo! We had originally planned to go to Dubai or somewhere more ‘local’ but on advice and a little further looking, we discovered that Cairo was only going to be an extra $250! Jules hadn’t been too sure about Dubai and I was prepared to head on over myself & explore for a few days but with the promise of The Sphinx, Pyramids and just all round silliness of Cairo, she was back on board in a flash. Plan was to fly out Sun & return Tues – and there were flights/seats available! The only prob was, as we wanted to fly out within less than 72hrs, you couldn’t book over the Net! D’oh! Hence why we had decided to meet at 1000 and try the airport – remembering that Fri is like Sunday over here but actually observed! Otherwise it would mean an early start on Sat after Opening…! Bad idea!

And now we return you to our other babbling story! So, Hawthorn thrashed Carlton (go Hawks!) and Adam had recovered from his devastating loss by 0715. Ryan was dead! Alarm blaring but to no avail. We started talking to him, lightly shaking him, to shaking him harder to almost slapping him! By 0721 he was conscious – well, his eyes were open. I dashed off to hold the bus, luckily it was our regular driver and he was patient & nice enough to wait. At the beginning they left on the dot every time – now days they’re much more at ease – especially when leaving the stadium and we say thanks in packs of smokes etc. Ryan cam stumbling down, with Adam pushing him along at around 0736 and the driver was a bit befuddled as to why I wasn’t hopping on the bus! Ryan boarded, basically fell into one of the front seats and then managed to semi return the salute given by myself & Adam as the bus pulled away! Phew, right, now off to bed for a couple of hours before having to meet Jules!

Both Jules & I were out on the street by 1000 and the taxi (for once) arrived pretty much on time. We had a dodgy plan worked out that if we couldn’t buy tix at the airport that we’d bunny hop from Travel Agent to Travel Agent until we had to return to the Compound in order to catch the 0130 bus for Opening! Wondered into the airport and of course, because it’s the day of Opening, it’s chaotic. Well, I was on a mission and wasn’t going to let a few Arabs, 100 or so Indians, many officials and men with guns stop me from possibly purchasing tickets! Waded up to a dek that looked like it maybe able to help – tucked away in a very corner. Started babbling to the lady and after much gesturing, pointing and telling small lies about calling people by phone and them telling me to come to the airport and that someone said this and another said that and then having to repeat it all to what I assume was a manager type person – we were issued with tickets to Cairo! Ta da! And we even got them for the Net price which is cheaper than we should have due to the fact that we were purchasing them in person & not on the Net! Mission accomplished! And with a semi flabbergasted Jules in tow we caught a cab back and crashed for the maximum time we could – 1.5hrs before we had to get up and get ready for Opening…!

Would have preferred a decent nights sleep before the big event but hey, what are you going to do…? And no, for the first time in my life, the answer to that question is not “Drink a little more!”

Wed 29th – It’s Like Pointing Paper At A Helicopter!

(Simone & Kev The Artsist & 'City Of The Future'.)

Another fairly peaceful day around the Compound. Not a lot happening. Rehearsals brought around our second time with an audience – this time there was probably double the numbers of the one previous. There was a bit of rain but nothing that I hadn’t already sat through! As they were also doing some of the preshow stuff, myself & Kev bartered the fact that we should be allowed to stay down an extra hour! Myself & Kev have a laugh everyday re. the wicket we’re on. We’re either making up for the all the dodgy gigs and stuff in the past or, we’re going to have a bitch of a time upon our return! We’ve got our money on the year that it’s been – him vs Disney & Workcover, me with all the Arts Centre stuff – standard really. We’re both having a ball and are loving it with not a care in the world.

Anyway, because we were allowed to have another cuppa whilst everyone reported for duty, we were asked if we’d be able to assist in the White Balance for the cameras as it was also a final chance for them to get their shots etc. We happily obliged and turned up to the Eastern Stage with paper taped to our fronts & backs and with a large sheet of white paper. Who ever thought that letting myself and Kev, with an audience, go onto a stage was a good idea – especially with time to prep – is a fool! I have no idea if anyone else was entertained but the spot ops were as all 14 others had their beams angled at us!

At one point they asked us to turn, and as rehearsed, myself and Kev turned different ways and ‘accidentally’ ripped the large sheet of cardboard in half – we didn’t really, it was about 12 pieces of A4 paper stuck together and we’d been holding it against the cardboard! I was then asked one of the weirdest things I’ve ever been asked, “Can you please point the cardboard at the helicopter?” Sounds easy you say…? Well, until you’ve been asked the question, you have no idea how to do it! If they’d asked us to hold it up to the helicopter, it may have computed easier but to point paper…? We did a little dance and then started to sing ‘Glory Days’ and were shooed off stage by the over zealous MC’s – I don’t think they appreciated us at all! Myself and Kev left, after a bow of course and then proceeded to suit up and climb the Arch.

Rehearsals went pretty well. This time there were extra bits that hadn’t been on show to the last audience and some that had been were kept quiet. A few more pieces were added to ‘City Of The Future’ and it all went pretty smoothly. The rain kind of held off – small patches of drizzle but nothing too bad. The crowd seemed to really love it. Myself & Kev had to clear our position again due to the pyros. Around came Hero Horse time… it worked, kinda. There was no flame used this time and the Prince got halfway up before the horse decided that it wanted to stop on the middle platform – after some coaxing, the Prince managed to get it all the way to the top but well after the music had finished. They didn’t use the Cauldron again as it’s the main event of the night. It was unnerving but it was better than last time…!

I hung back after work to send off a couple of emails and mess around on the office computers that have guaranteed Net access and when I got home an hour later than the rest, walked into my lounge to find Kev with a semi naked girl sprawled on the couch with markings all over her stomach! Now before you take the visuals you have any further, Simone had come across with Henna paint and as she was no good at drawing, she was silly enough to let Kev have a go at her stomach! The end result was quite impressive! The talking point of the evening!

It was a decent gathering on the Stoop but a pretty quite one. We’ve now finally taken to moving furniture outside of an evening, much more comfortable and adds to the status that the Stoop has earnt! All the regulars popped over but passed through pretty quickly. The need to have a quiet beer and to actually stop and unwind from the day is even more important now that we’re a couple of days away and there’s still certain elements that need tweaking. There’s tension in the air but it’s calm all at the same time – well it looks that way from the Stoop!

Tues 28th – A Relaxing Time @ 70m High!

(Photo's - the broken Asia truck of a few days ago & Adam & Jules on the Anti Stoop.)

Tonights rehearsal was hilarious as they were only rehearsing scenery stuff – there was no performers etc. & did they happen to rehearse the scenery section that required myself and Kev…? Hell no! Very funny! 6 odd hours, sitting on a platform, rocking out to iTunes with not a care in the world! The jacket makes all the difference warmth wise and I’ve managed to perfect the picking of Prem’s voice over cans – as soon as I hear his voice, pause button is hit and then back to iTunes at the earliest convenience! I didn’t tun on or even get close to pointing my dome at anything for the entire time! Hee hee hee!

It did start to rain at one point and I’d gone over to visit Kev as I was bored. Headed back over and got back on cans to hear the tail end of conversation re. the rain. Someone asked how I thought it was and I chimed in with “It’s fine – annoying but fine, wouldn’t even classify it as heavy”. Found out later on when we were at home that people who were undercover were having a little whinge about the rain whipping in and getting the back’s of their legs! Paul & Adam thought my perfectly innocent comment was the best thing! I had no idea that people had been bitching! One of those beautiful moments where I may have come across as a bit of a bastard but people also knew that I’d been off cans and that it was an honest call! GOLD!

Today is also Marie’s 40th birthday – she one of the spot ops and hails from England although lives in Dubai – we think. She’s a weird one. Good sense of humour but just a little strange. She claims to be a dominatrix and runs a fetish club back at home. She’s harmless but some of the comments she comes out with just cross that line way to far – and that’s me saying this! She’s very forward and open about, well, just about everything! The comments are of the level of if you’d known someone for years & years – not just a few weeks! Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s OK and when sitting down at the Canteen, having a coffee and a chat she’s harmless but, it also has to do with that one-upmanship that happens on cans, in a group, she can be a little freaky. Eh, what are you going to do!

Her birthday drinks were a resounding success – we’d gone and got her this huge & rich chocolate cake and had invited some of her friends who we knew from around the Stadium to come join us. The festivities led to our first official noise complaint…. At 0330 when Kev was belting out U2 – with numerous back up singers we heard Steph, one of the SM’s yell out that she appreciated the concert and it was semi in tune but could we please save it for the daylight hous! Kirsten said to me & Adam the next day that it was really weird going to sounds of Adam & my voices! “Just like being back in Ballarat but with sand!”

We then moved the remainder of the gathering out to the Rear Stoop, or as we’ve now christened it – the Anti Stoop, fired up the Shoosha and sat back and chatted until the wee small hours – yes, I saw the sun rise again. Wasn’t a messy night, just a relaxing few beers.

Mon 27th – A Quiet One All Round

(Lanterns in a tent out by the Arabian Gulf.)

Today was as the title says. It was good to have had a pretty restful and uneventful day and to then have a decent nights sleep. People just wondered past for most of the day and schlepped from group to group. The realisation that Opening is now only a few days away has begun to sink in.

Rehearsals was all about the pre show entertainment. Pretty naff as I guess you want to have a few aces up your sleeve. The 2 MC’s are just the same as any other MC you’ve ever seen & heard – sleazy, full of smiles and oversized guestures and just won’t shut up – despite going over & over time. And this was all without an audience!

There’s a section where the Orry’s come out and play. It’s quite comical as each Orry is being chased by bigger & bigger groups of kids playing sport of one sort or another. It’s made even more comical by the music that accompanies each section. Everything from the William Tell Overture to snippets of ‘Spectacular’ from Moulin Rouge to the circus/carnival music – it’s also the music that I associate with old men spinning dinner plates on sticks of dowl and for those who’ve worked with me in the past – it’s my Cougar spinning music! It’s quite funny but maybe that’s because it was something that we haven’t seen over the last few weeks and was just nice to see new stuff!

Myslf & Kev look like we’ll have nothing to do with the pre game entertainment! It kind of sucks – we’ve got stuff to do during the show but there are some who are far busier. I love the position that we’re in but at the same time would like to be a little busier. Kev’s the same. Wouldn’t change it for the world though – maybe with the 2 kids on the LED screen though!

Sun 26th – The Kings Of Doha!

(Photo's - Prem & Jules, a standard sign around the Kalifha & The Kings Of Doha!)

Well, today was a day off and myself and Adam decided that it was high time that we actually had some decent catch up time away from the masses. It started with a bit of a sleep in – we didn’t drink last night but played PS2 and messed around til about 3am – we were kept up by Stoop action until 0430 but I’m sure others have suffered! Casino Royale was showing down at Chillies Mall (our local) at 1400, so we wondered down there and had lunch at Chillies 1st. Not too bad food – I had fajitas that was served across four plates! Very filling & quite nice.

Got the tickets and walked into the cinema – very excited as the last movie was crap but I’ve probably bored you all with those details in the past! Cinema wasn’t huge but still fitted into the ‘big screen’ category worthy of a Bond film. The Qatarians don’t care for advertising or previews and the movie kicked in smack bang on 1400. Took a second to realise that it was the movie and not a preview. I won’t bore you all with details and what not now but I will say that it was GOLD! Smiling all the way through, laughing & clapping and cheering! It wasn’t until we stood to leave at the end that we stood and saw the audience behind us and went “Oh!” It was one of those mini culture shocks when you’re in a familiar/comfortable environment in another country – majority of the audience behind us were all kitted out in their best Arab garb! It then dawned on us that we were probably the only ones clapping and cheering during the movie – we kind of beat a hasty exit after that, glad that we hadn’t been cheering on Bond as he took n a bunch of Middle East looking type people! Um..er….!

From there we decided to head to City Central Mall – the one with the ice skating rink inside. Managed to hail one of the ‘normal’ cabs and headed off with the mission of acquiring Adam a real guitar. I also had the idea of getting a camera & headset lot for my computer. We first went in to Carfour which is this HUGE French chain that sells everything – kind of like Coles, K-Mart & Bunnings combined! I managed to get a really good deal on both a camera and headset – score! It’s so weird how the pricing structure works here – there’s no real scale of what’s cheaper etc.

We then decided that it was time for coffee. Poked around some more. Found an uber cinema complex and realised that there were actually heaps of movies showing at the moment. We contemplated a few but decided to keep on looking around. We ended up buying a Shoosha from our good friend Haymar from India! He befriended us quite quickly and sold us a basic, tourist Shoosha with tobacco and coals etc for 200 riyal – I was pretty sure it was crap deal, no, not pretty sure, damn sure but it was a day hanging with Adam and it did mean that we could hang on the Back Stoop in our courtyard and chill!

A few of the gang rand us through the day to see what we were doing and where we were but we gave them the standard “We’re out and about” response. I know that sounds rude but there were a couple of groups who disappeared off by themselves, leaving ‘the needy’ ones high and dry! Mean, but, sometimes you have to cut your losses – tough love, that’s the ticket!

We found the guitar shop we’d been recommended by Canadian Bill (LED Stories) as his wife works over here and it was a very funny skit to watch Adam attempt to play & tune the guitar without getting into trouble from the storeman. It was apparently a pretty good guitar and around $100 odd cheaper than in Melb! So, with a guitar slung around his back and to a dodgy rendition of G&S’s “A Wondering Minstrel”, Adam & I sauntered back into City Centre – much to the amusement of many shoppers! My theory is, as long as we’re not running around tipping over shelving units and punching people, we’re able to behave as if we were waking the streets of home!

We then went to the 3 story high amusement section and loaded up a card with credits and had a round on this huge F1 simulator – full size car with wind, suspension, sounds – the works! It hurts a lot when you come flying around a corner and find & then slam into Adam! We also played a few rounds of the standard shoot ‘em up games and then had a go at their Go Karts – not really that fast at all but if you threw your weight around on the corners you could get some decent skids and turns outta them!

All the while, due to the guitar, people kept stopping us and asking about our band & told us of their bands and music tastes! All very funny! It was also a case of we had to make up basic little white lies abut our band because, if you’re carrying a guitar around, you must be in a band! We just did the standard of who ever made the lead, the other one would back him up! It’s worked and got us out of & into trouble before and continues to prove a successful way to talk ourselves around and through anything!

We got phonecalls from a few of ‘the nice people’ about heading out to dinner and then going to the night souks as possible previously discussed. We sort of looked at each other and, without saying a word, agreed that we would continue to do our own thing for the remainder of the evening. We then had more coffee and just sat and chatted for awhile. Soppy as this may sound, it was great to just slip back into the friendship that has always been there, despite having seen each other for approx 2.5 days in nigh on 3years! It was mostly just babble that led into tangents that brought on themed stories, old stories, life, stupidity etc. – classic Tim & Adam!

We went and checked out the movies and decided upon The Departed – new Martin Scorsese flick. It was pretty good, no Casino Royale but good non the less. We then caught a cab home to find that most of the guys & gals were home and that the souks had shut around 2130 – an hour after they got there after dinner! A wise decision by myself and Adam! We then sneaked off, poured ourselves a Drambuie and sat out back and smoked apple shoosha for a couple of hours. A damn fine & decent way to top off a nice day of ‘official’ one on one Brotherly Time.

Sat 25th - It’s Amost, Almost There!

(Photos - The Qatar Flag made up of flares, the Pearl Fishing Boats, The 'Caravans Of Asia' at the end of their section, my liquor permit (such a crap photo!) & my first bounty for the Stoop)

Come out onto the Stoop for brekkie– doubles nicely as a kitchen table! – and see Al up the street, in his boxers and t-shirt and of course, he had the hat on! He, um, well, he passed some wind – quite loudly as I heard it a few doors down – and he hadn’t seen me, so I let go with a “Christ!” and he laughed so hard that he spilt most of his coffee!

I’d had my paperwork go through for my Liquor Licence so I decided to go and get it all done. The perfect thing to do when hungover! You have to go to the only place in Doha, called The Qatar Distribution Company, where you can buy take away booze. You’re not even allowed in the Security controlled gate unless you have the licence or the paperwork as I did. Get in and was ushered to this tiny little office where you sit, with a little man for about 20mins. I didn’t really say a word – handed over my 1,000 riyal as a deposit – and walked out there with a licence to purchase 3,500 riyal of booze a month! It’s a shame you don’t get to keep the licence as it’s pretty funny but it’s not worth $250 to keep! Picked up a few days worth of supplies – 7 slabs and bought myself a bottle of Bailey’s & a bottle of Drambuie and walked out with 1,200 shaved off my monthly allowance!

That may sound like a lot of booze, well it is I guess, but there’s upwards of 15 people on the Stoop each night & everyone chips in with cash. It’s all very blackmarket and completely illegal! The booze you purchase is supposed to be solely for your own use, not given and especially not sold onto others…! We do! But we are safe in our Compound. Were we to sell to a muslim, very different story!

We had a full rehearsal this evening with an audience of around 10,000, so about ¼ full. They didn’t get to se everything – some because stuff isn’t finished but also because you don’t want to give away all your secrets in one hit! It went pretty well, they were oohhhh-ing and ahhhhh-ing in all the right spots. We also got to see sections that we hadn’t seen happen in real time – like when 3,000 volunteer performers are all given flares and when lit, from above, they make the flag of Qatar! We’d seen them line up and go thru the paces but not the actual effect and it looked great. The silly part was that they even rehearsed the entrance of the athletes – even though they weren’t there! The audience still cheered when certain countries were announced. Iraq got quite a holler, as did Palestine, Jordan, India & Pakistan.

The flying stuff looked great. There’s a section where 12 boats are flown in over the Seekers boat and from each boat, 2 divers a la Nicky Webster, dive out and go pearl diving! The diving stuff is stuff that you’ve seen before but the boats look cool as they come flying in. We also got to see sections of City Of The Future that we hadn’t seen. Overall it was good to see it with fresh eyes and the noise of an audience was also refreshing.

As we had audience, it was also crunch time for Kev & I to get off the Arch as they were going to fire off a few pyro’s. We got down with decent time to spare – we’d been rehearsing it for a few days but as we never knew when the pyro’s were actually due to fire, we had no idea if we were actually safe or not – even though we were checking in by radio! This meant that we were able to get onto the Field Of Play for the Hero Horse section. We don’t get to see the flame enter and do it’s lap as that’s when we’re descending. The Prince was riding the horse tonight and it was one of those situations where they’ve rehearsed this small section SO many times and slowly added lights, followspots, sound and even had as many people as possible stand on the Field and yell at the horse to slowly get it used to the environment. The one thing they forgot – actually using a flame…! Chaos! The Prince isn’t the best rider, even though he’s the President of The Qatar Equestrian Something Arather! It’s a personal pride ting for the Emir to have his son light the Cauldron but the Cowboys have their doubts.

Anyway, the Prince is a bit wobbly as he’s only riding one hand as the other has the flame. Because he’s trying to keep his balance, he lets the flame droop down near the horses head! Nope, horse don’t like that and starts jumping around! Torch then gets swung around near the horses bum, nope, don’t like that either! At this point, it’s pretty clear that the horse ain’t going up the ramp. The horse charged towards the area where Kev & I were standing & I had visions of an Indiana Jones style leap, a punch to the Prince and then take the damn flame up to the Cauldron (even though they weren’t going to reveal it)! Didn’t quite happen that way as the horse started to calm down and the Prince regained control. Bit of a let down and the almost immediate gossip was that it would have to be one of the Cowboys who would have to do the ride on the night!

Overall, the show looks tacky, there’s naff bits, there’s silly bits but it’s pretty cool. Looking forward to the actual event and then maybe even seeing some sport. There’s a few sports that we have no idea what they are! Might try pot luck or even go and see some football! We’ll see.

Fri 24th – The Stoop Goes Global…!

(Photos - Kev & myself in a far to zoomed in Self Portrait but I think it's a great shot, Azis, myself & Azim, Me & Jess and a photo of Jules that she claims is "the cutest one I've ever seen of myself!")

Forget the past Stoop stories – tonight, the Stoop was taken to the next level. How or why we’re not quite sure (most of us blame the vodka – read on) but it was the biggest night out yet. Rehearsals was rehearsals, went smooth and then we all came home. Most people were pretty fragile from the previous night – I was up for a few but not many and it was actually pretty quiet. Then some of the Field Of Play people arrived home, then Floor LX, then others – that’s our problem I think, our Stoop is at the start of the street and pretty much everyone has to walk past us once off the bus!

Soon enough the idea of a quite one seemed to have been lost! People wondered down from up the street and pretty soon we had 30+ people – our biggest gathering yet! Well, we all blame Sarah & Kev – she brought out vodka and he Jack Daniels and we all proceeded to nip at both of them straight! It was one of THOSE nights! Everyone seemed to hit that level of just needing a night to stop & relax. It was great and we had other mini Stoops happening all up & down the street.

We were all very silly – the Cowboys are a raucous influence. They’re always demanding Kev break out the guitar and Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” has become the anthem of the Stoop. Unfortunately Kev doesn’t know any Kenny Rodgers or we’d have “The Gambler” in the mix as well! Tonight, the Cowboys announced “Kev On Tour” and proceeded to sit Kev up on a chair, in the back of their ute, tailgate down, all of us piled in the back and then did a few slow laps of the compound! Very entertaining. They’re having a ball and love the fact that they can come home and sit and have a few quiet ones with ‘a bunch of top blokes’. Wayne’s invited us all up to Tamworth over the Aus Day weekend for the Country Music Fest..! Bruce, Al & Ian (the other cowboys) are making the trip and a few of us are considering making the journey. It’d be great to keep in contact with them & Tamworth would be a great reverse of the current situation – us in their environment.

Al’s my favourite cowboy and tonight he burped quite loudly and, in my best deep, guttural cowboy voice, went “Christ” – Al lost it and then for the rest of the night he kept coming up going “Go on, give us another.” Everytime he wet himself laughing and then dragged me around like a new toy and showed me off to his friends!

The walls that had contained our Stoop were well & truly broken down! There were serious discussions, piggy back races, people let their barriers down, there was some soul searching & a lot of laughs. At some point I ended up on the Frenchies Stoop, pretty sure it was after Adam had dragged me to another Stoop that he had found further down the block! Very bad basic French from my end and small bits of English from them but we had a fine old chat. Went and hung out with Dom & Kirene for awhile, sat on Shanes kitchen floor and had beer with him, sipped on Tequila with Simone, was given a concoction of something at Dean & Mark’s – “You’ll like it” was all I was told! Apparently I was absent form my own Stoop for nigh on 3hrs! All in all it was another fine night out in Doha. Or as Kev says, “I’m getting paid to drink & laugh with my mates!”

Photo's Are Back Baby!

As these appear before publishing - Myself & the Cowboys (Ian, Wayne, Al, Me & Bruce), General Stoop shot, me doing my best Homer impression, The Cauldron during rehearsals, Arabic Simone, Scott (dome) & Me, Classic Adam face! & The Stoop Ol' Time Jug Band!

Thurs 23rd – A Long & Lonely Night.

(Am at work in avain attempt to upload more - still won't let me load up photos! I'll post this and re login and see where that gets me! Hope you're all well out there.)

Got up this morning and as I was having my muesli on the Stoop, Kev came and joined me and we started talking about tattoos. I’ve always thought about getting one. Either the 007 pistol symbol on the underside of my left wrist or an arm band type one – common I know but I don’t have any other real attachment etc. that I can think to get tattooed onto myself! Kev decided that, as he was bored and I was a sucker, that he’d draw a tattoo on my arm whilst I ate! And he did! It was a beautiful scroll, dedicated in true tatt style to ‘Mum’ with a snake wrapped around it that then carried all the way down my arm! It actually looked alright and has swung me round to possibly getting one of the arm band type tatts. Got a heap of comments from others throughout the day.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Just people passing through with not a lot to report. There’s definitely a lull in social activity at the mo’. People are still paring off but there are certain people that people seem to avoid. There’s a couple of the crew who are really starting to sh*t people off on cans. A whole ream of standbys will be given and then there’s the “What was Spot # doing there?” or just generally talking crap the whole time and won’t shut up and just do the gig. I have no probs if it’s dead time (which we do get chunks of) but if we’re running a section – shut the hell up! May sound harsh I know but…!

The other main whinge happening thru the dome ranks at the mo’ is the overnight shifts. Don’t know if I’ve previously mentioned this but 2 spots stay back each night to provide worklight for the set pieces whilst plotting goes on – it’s a really silly kind of idea and most nights, they get knocked about 1230 – 0130. There’s been a few people who have stayed back late – a couple of people have had a bad run and copped it twice, even though people have offered to replace them. There’s a couple of people, for what ever reason, ALWAYS bring up “Well, I’ve done night duty twice and worked til 0430 blah, blah, blah” – mainly when most of us get knocked but the people who dome the Hero Horse need to stay back. It’s not for rehearsals to train the ops, it’s purely for the horses and anyone can hang back and do it. Where the frustration comes form is that there have been dozens of Hero Horse rehearsals that by far cover 2 x night shifts but certain people fail to se this! Smack them around the head with a wet fish I say!

I am being a bit of a bitch today! But hey, we’re all on a bloody good wicket here – we’re not really working at all and there’s people who are earning the same as us & working far longer hours EVERY day. So who cares if you cop night shift twice – overall, it’s still a decent hourly rate! The motto is (or was), “One In, All In” and that’s starting to show a few cracks now!

Same bullshit kicked in on cans tonight towards the end of the shift – I was quite abrupt, told the offender to shut up, that we knew they’d done lateshift twice in 8 days and put my hand up and said I was staying to replace one of the guys who always had to stay back and do Hero and was scheduled for night duty! A few people then offered to stay back to cover Hero Horse etc. – message got across successfully! The boss (Prem) thanked me at the end of the night. Don’t get me started on him – he’s a nice guy but there’s more he could be doing to earn that basic respect as an employee that you should have for your boss. He should have been stamping on this ages ago – anyhoo, he’s Dutch, I’m an Aussie and I guess we do things differently! Man, I AM being a bitch tonight! Must stop!

Everyone was on the 1130 bus – I hunkered down in front of a computer and had some quality Internet time. I didn’t have my laptop with me which is why there’s been big gaps in between postings as late as connection at home is very few and far between or it lasts all of 5mins! From my work on the LED screen I also knew most of the voices chatting away on the radio. Chimed in that myself & Jess were there and awaiting deployment and came back with a few friendly voices. Kept chiming in at the quarter past of each hour, figuring it’s better to remind you of your existence before the bus departs on the ½ hr. 0320 rocks around and there’s news that we may get used in the next half hour….! Apart form that, it was Net, coffee & wondering around a bit. At 0345 we were dismissed and got an apology from the guys but the tag that they knew what we might be needed for wasn’t going to happen! God bless those days on the LED screen as the other nights, they’d let them hang as there was no prior acknowledgement of who they were and us Spot Ops – everyone knows the deal we’re on and sometimes, just sometimes, it’s frowned upon – that’s why the Stoop is always open and we always have cold beer in the fridge! It’s a universal language and peacemaker I tell ya! But, cause the guys had worked with me, crawling thru Lucy at height and it’d been a decent 6 days of solid work, they came to the party! GOLD!

Jess was prepared to wait til the 0430 bus – not I! Ran to the Site Shed, bursted in and ‘demanded’ where I could get a taxi from! Due to Khalifa now being locked down. As luck would have it, Philby was knocking off and offered to drive me home (I was nice & went & got Jess) and he drove us home (another LED contact paying off!). Get out of his ute and hear the sounds of the Stoop..! Walk around the corner and there, sprawled across the Stoop is this great big pack of pissed idiots! All were far passed merry! I sat amongst them and had 2 beers over the course of 1.5hrs and was endlessly entertained – I shan’t name names as it’s not my place to do so as I was not a part of the festivities from the start but about 15mins after I’d sat down, it was declared that I’d only just arrived and people were very happy to see me all over again!

Then these Germans rocked up – found out that they’re the ones responsible for the pyros. They had a big ol’bag of pistachios that, when attempting to open, burst all over the Stoop! I just shook my head! We then had beer & nuts! Very human. The game then started of course as to “Where or on who can I place my pistachio shells?” Adam’s shoes, Kev’s hat, Sarah’s bag... list goes on. I found it all highly entertainment. I was also responsible at the end of the night for pouring some people into bed with much of the “you’re great mate”, “Seriously, you’re a top bloke”, “I love you mate” and “When did you get home…”! Another successful night out for Stoop #7!

Wed 22nd – Out & Souking About!

(No photos able to be uploaded with this entry either..! Blast! Oh well, at least those of you who are still dedicated to keeping checking for updates - your patience will soon hopefully be rewarded!)

Today was “get off your arse and actually go & be productive” day. Myself, Jules & Adam decided that we’d head down to the Souks. People may be picking on my spelling of Souk but there are about 4 or 5 different versions – all of them found on the walls of the actual souk/souqk/sook themselves! As we’re on the topic of spelling, I do realise that I have spoken of going dune bashing in a bowl of ice cream and not sand! It was one of those “Is it spelt like this or is it this one..?” & I guess I just plain got it wrong!

The New Souks are basically like Bourke Street Mall – shops on either side. They tend to be all grouped together – clothes, jewellery, toys etc. Now, I’d gone down to get myself a jacket and we knew that the Souks shut around 1230 for afternoon prayer and would then reopen at 1630 – well after we were at work & I wasn’t going to freeze my arse (tits if I had them!) off again and we had around 2hrs. 1st store we walk past this guy goes “DVD? American movie? Computer? Electronics?” and I must mention at this point we were quite safe until he uttered “PS2…?” Adam was off in a flash! 20mins and 3 games each later (yes, even I got suckered in)…! Yep, nothings changed and I think we kept Jules highly entertained.

We then found the clothing area and hunted around and came across the only jacket that basically fitted the bill of water proof & warmth. Cost 170R ($60) and if I loose it or it gets ruined I don’t have a problem but it is also one that I may keep in the back of the wardrobe as it could be handy if I ever venture to the snow, which I haven’t done in…….? It is by no means an attractive jacket it is better than some of the other crap the guy was trying to push on me.

We then wanted to get to the Old Souks – which the government apparently tore down most/some of a few years ago to make way for ‘progress’ and there were all these complaints etc. so the they are now being rebuilt & extended – as Mohammed mentioned in the desert, I guess the government aren’t wised up to the fact that Tourists prefer ye olde rather than brand new, especially when it comes to something as unique as the souks!

The three of us had no idea where the old souks were and it was one of those up this street, down this street, ask directions and get told something completely different than the previous person we’d asked! Boring but still a funny little adventure. We got to this main intersection on the edge of the New Souks (NS) and it was like Doha’s Wall Street – all the banks had their offices there. At this point we had no idea where we were, let alone anything else and I was determined to find them as it was 1145. A silly notion kicked in to look behind the banks as they were quite new buildings (‘progress’) – there was protest but I was determined. Ran across the road (‘beep, beep, beep’) and around the bank on the corner and then ran wildly back for Jules & Adam for there before me were the Old Souks (OS)! They joined me – no ‘beeps’ as they went and found a crossing (!) and off we went exploring.

There was no order to how they worked. The OS are basically your tourist/knick knack stuff where as the NS are your more practical, everyday needs kind of market. They were great and little alleyways went off this way, then that way – chaotic but a great environment to immerse yourself in. Also, in the OS the vendors don’t heckle you to come in, they just let you do as you please which is so refreshing as I HATE it when people come out and heckle you – the worst being those who do it at restaurants! Kill ‘em all! One of my major pet hates!

We cleaned up and I stuck to my theory of buy some crappy, tacky and useless stuff on your first visit – allow yourself to get caught up in the atmosphere before returning and actually sussing out good bargains and getting down to serious bartering! All three of us bought a fair chunk of stuff and I managed to get myself & Jules a better price by accepting a vendors offer of a cup of tea! Adam & Jules declined at first but then I remembered Rach’s stories of tea & friendship (thanks baby!) in her Middle East travels and accepted and the man ran off, brought me tea & a chair and we sat back and discussed numerous things! Saved us 70R each in the end! Ha ha! A smarter way to do business!

We also found a shop that was selling Iraq currency with Saddam on it. It’s a dumb and stupid thing to buy seeing as I’ve never been there but as it’s part of history that happened in my life time and messed up the world and it was only $3 a note so I grabbed a few. We then stopped for more sweet tea and a shoosha! When in Rome! We obviously were dong it all wrong as we had one between three and most people had their own, we got some weird looks but hey, we did walk around until we found a shoosha bar that had more Arab clientele than Westerners – I’d rather follow the locals lead! Has worked well in other countries, so why not the Middle East..?

Post rehearsals brought around a long but responsible night on the Stoop. The Cowboys were up for a chat and it took us awhile to figure out who they were talking about during one of their stories. This Terry bloke kept popping up and seemed to be doing the role of 10 or 12 people – we later discovered that the Cowboys now call all the local riders Terry as so many of them drop out and then refuse to come over when called. Al started it – “I just pointed at one of ‘em and said ‘Terry, get on up here’ and the bugger tried to tell me that he wasn’t Terry and so I pointed to me Arab garb I had on and went & I’m not Shiek Al A Hark La Billy Ray Farkin Cyrus either but I’m on me mount!” Please don’t get the wrong idea about the Cowboys – they’re just ocker, stereotypical Aussie men from the bush. They’re not insulting to the locals or are racist or anything like that, they’re just having a ball being placed in this very different environment be it Doha or a Theatre Show.

They were SO excited the other day as they got taken out to the middle of the desert to film footage to be shown as their section of the Ceremony takes place. They were onsite at the crack of Dawn –all 12 of them – in full costume and rode up and over dunes with helicopters buzzing up and over them, rode single file across the top of dunes. They were like kids who had been let loose in a toy store. Doha is definitely an experience that they’ll never forget. They weren’t too sure about the whole makeup thing though…!

I also managed to log onto the Net long enough to get Skype up and running. For those of you in the dark (as was I until a month or so ago), Skype lets you make phonecalls over the Net – you need a speakers & a microphone and then, as long as you know people’s name, you can chat live to them! It’s the next version of chat rooms I guess! Adam assisted by handing over his headset with microphone and we gave Bernie Haldane, General Manager of Hothouse Theatre & a good friend a call – the only Skype address I knew! She wasn’t on line so we tried her mobile, it was off so we rang Hothouse directly – I actually thought I had her direct line but it was to reception and when the lady answered I wasn’t ready for the question “And who may I say is calling?”, “The Brudda’s from Doha” was the first & wrong thing to come out of my mouth! Little were we to know that Bernie was in a meeting! Eventually we got onto her and Skyped for about 5mins! Very funny. She had a camera and we were able to see her and Bec Bennel. Connection wasn’t great but it was contact with Aus which is great as phone reception over here hasn’t been great as of late.

So, I now have a Skype account, my name is ‘bruddat’ and when I get Net access I’ll generally login and see who’s about. Please feel free to invite me to join your Skype network – I’m turning into SUCH a nerd when it’s an actual wonder that I can even turn a computer on! Well, it’s late and I should crash, catch you at a later date than now.

Tues 21st – Picking Up A Bolt Twice In 5.5hrs In Arctic Winds.

(Once again - unable to upload photos! Also,will try & post as much as I can now (currently Thurs 7th Dec) as Net has been a no show for nigh on 2 weeks, here goes...!)

Well, today was pretty quiet. People’s sleep patterns are all completely out of whack. For some it’s due to beer consumption, some it’s the overnighters and for some it’s just because it’s so stop start. Take me for instance – my standard bed time is around 0300 – 0330 at the mo’ & yes, it has been later when there’s been an ale on but as we don’t usually get out of rehearsals until 1130, we’re not usually home until midnight – sometimes it’s even 0100 & as we’re all theatre nerds, we’re used to having a couple of hours after curtain down to unwind and just relax. Hence the 0300 bedtime. I’ve started getting up by 1000, just so it’s not work, sleep, work! That’s why there’s been beer involved – to add a nice distraction form the pattern!

Tonight’s rehearsal was a joke! We rehearsed ‘Protocol 1 & 2’ which covers all the ‘Admin; stuff – speeches, important people, flag raising etc. which is fine but pretty much ALL of it happens on the Eastern stage and as Kev & I are on the Eastern Arch, we can’t see, let alone get a shot that maybe of some use! The only part we’re used for is when the Emir (Top Guy of Qatar for those not in the know) makes his entrance, in a pretty cool way on the Western stage – which is opposite us and we can reach! Stoopid thing is – when we do the pick up at the microphone, I have this huge bolt/shackle in my line of sight that supports all the wires that hold up the flying set pieces of the show. The spot caller didn’t seem to understand what I was on about, that there was no way I could sight up on the Emir and after a few “Is this him..?” trial & errors, I’ve discovered that the Emir looks like the top of a REALLY thick bolt! Once I’ve picked up the bolt I can duck down and see where he is & what he actually looks like! For those of you who have been paying attention to the other Little Lessons Of Doha I’ve been sneaking into my ramblings, the Emir’s name is Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani – the Emir of the State Of Qatar! He refurbished the Stadium and then renamed it after himself (Khalifa), as would I, I guess!

In the 5.5hrs we were up at our spots, I picked up a bolt twice! Each time for approx 30-40 secs and it was FREEZING up there tonight. I think I’ve already posted a photo of me all wrapped up for winter – I’m in the desert for farks sake! Definitely going shopping for a jacket tomorrow. They’ve told us that we’ll need to buy our own and after much negation and near beatings, we’ve argued quite effectively to the point that Mr. Atkins should pay for said jacket if they can’t provide us with either wet or cold weather gear – especially as they said we HAD to go up, regardless of weather & they’ve agreed to pay the cost of us buying a jacket! Ah, Ward Ware has taught me well when it comes to bartering over necessities & ‘must haves’ in Work Fashion – thanks Frankie! GOLD!

The only other real thing to report – I do always try and keep these things short but I’m sure you’ve all had conversations with me in the past! I hope so or who the hell are you and how did you get this number…? Anyhoo, the kids were on deck tonight! Hilarity ensued! All the stories we’d heard came into 3D. From my birds eye view the kids are roughly as big as….(he says as he looks around his room for something to compare to)… a button on your mobile (nice comparison!) and they bring on all this material and make up a Persian Rug that covers the entire Field Of Play. It’s hysterical as they do seem to just run everywhere and it’s at full tilt! They seem to have more order when they enter as they have material to place but on the exit, they just exit and you can imagine approx 2,500 kids all running for a space which is about the size of 4 car park spaces at once! Very funny – especially watching the Stage Managers (& there’s dozens – they’ve upgraded some who were only here for Closing to assist on Opening) try and keep some kind of order on the field. They’re dashing here & there! If you speeded up the footage and added any number of musical interludes it would make you laugh but also very dizzy! I don’t envy them at all.

The adults aren’t as bad – there’s around 3,500 of them but they all get on and line up in there lines and then break rank to go have a smoke or go to the toilet. People have tried to tell them that they can’t do it on the night but it reverts back to that headspace of having no idea what it is they’re actually doing. They are having a ball & it’s not like they’re being difficult, they just don’t understand the style of discipline involved. I’m sure it will be fine on the night, I think…!

Mon 20th – When Dust & Rain Collide….! D’oh In Doha!

(Me The Strongman with Jules & Prem to a shoulder each & Sarah & Jules after the pool incident on THAT Sunday!)

Well, woke up this morning to the familiar sound of rain hitting against my window. Took a few seconds and then realised that IT’S THE DESSERT! Very weird. The second thought was that the Stadium would be in lots of trouble! All very much open air, no roofs and with set, lights & just all round general stuff everywhere! We were informed that rehearsals were still going ahead and in we went. By late arvo, the rain had stopped but with the amount of dust that floats around Doha – desert sand and also due to the amount of construction going on – there was a nice, decent layer of grime everywhere! The Dust of Doha gets in everywhere – my spot is covered in it and it’s quite thick inside the lamp housing.

We’re at the point where they’ve pretty much doing full dresses each night – sometimes it’s without full costume or the volunteer but the show is now basically taking shape. New bits get added each time. We do stop & start but it now looks like we’ll make it for the 1st Dec, whereas a week ago….!

Unfortunately, one of the Asia trucks broke, like really broke tonight! There’s 6 of these trucks that roll on in and they have motorised lifts/winches in them that raise a screen with Asian decorations on them. They’re pretty cool but tonight, the truck I dome had it’s screen raised and I watched the screen wobble a little (or at least I thought I did) and then had that confirmed when one end just went “nope, see ya!” and collapsed! Nobody was hurt – luckily as there are hidden features in the truck when the sides open and the screen raises! It was a wee bit of a showstopper and it’s better that it happens now than next Fri! A couple of forklifts and EWP’s came on to secure it and make it better and then off it was dragged, looking very sorry for itself.

There’s been a few hiccups of late – which is understandable when you start putting all the very large pieces of quite a hard puzzle together. A Smurf was rolled over by a piece of ‘The City Of The Future” – not badly, even though he was stretchered off as a precaution. He was given a clean bill of health and just basically got bruised shins. I bet you’re all now having these horror visions – it wasn’t bad, he tripped over backwards and the piece was pushed onto him. A few of the Arab riders have also fallen off – one got a twisted ankle. They’ve slowly been adding more and more to the Desert Horsemen section each time we rehearse it – lights, music, costume etc. but it’s not helping the local riders. The Cowboys find it all highly entertaining and regularly update us. They were actually shocked to learn that it was us, “not you bunch of lads?”, chasing them around with “them big ol’ searchlights?” I think they amuse us just as much as we amuse them!

Got home from rehearsals to find that the washing I’d put in at 1330 just before we left for work was STILL going round & round! Since the first episode I’ve done a few more loads, just this time it decided to take me for a ride again! Everyone was very amused and kept coming up with advice – if I hear, “Cycle 6 – Quickwash” one more time I’ll kill someone as I put it on frickin’ Cycle 6! Or as Paul was taunting (cause we have the instructions in about 12 languages), “rapido, rapido!”

Stoop was a quiet one tonight. There were literally a few beers and then it was bed! Now, I’m going to go all macho for a second and show off! (You’ve already seen the attached photo). Tonight, Julia & Prem were being silly and probably talking about “rapido, rapido” so I managed to pick one of them up over each shoulder from where they sat on the stoop and then run down the road! It wasn’t until I was running down the road that I realised that I’m not supposed to be that butch! Very impressed with myself I was!

Doha a la Fat Camp seems to be working!

More Pics Of The & For The Masses!

Hello, hello - it's Fri night, bout 2230 here. I've got no updates ready to post and do plan to do them tomorrow - I'm determined to get some done as I do realise that I'm a few days behind! Tonight, there is definately a strong pull towards the Stoop - I worked all night last night (more on that in updates to come) and am wide awake as I slept until 1430, got up and went to work! To try and counter effect this, I plan to have a few, maybe many (!) and then get up earlyish tomorrow and go and see Casino Royale - that's right, the new Bond is playing HERE in Doha at the cinemas just down the road! GOLD! Ok, I'm being yelled at to go downstairs! My public awaits...! Cowboys also mentioned something about having their drinking boots on tonight...! (Trumpet's blarin') CHARGE.....!

(Photos are as followed (or as they appear before posting) Sarah, Adam & Jules @ The Pool Party, Me & The Elephants, The Qatar Slide Shot @ 'Welcome', Me, Sarah & Aziz @ The Pool Party, Self Portrait of me, rugged up for a dessert winter nite with my iPod in having sat in position for over 2hrs and having done NOTHING!, Adam, Jules (post being thrown in the pool) & me @ The Pool Party, Kev & I on The Stoop & Me & 'Dancing' Orry - even though it looks like he has a mobile in his hand!)

Quick Fix Of A Mix Of Pix

(A very funny & close up look at Adam one night on the Stoop!, standard shot of the Stoop @ peak time, my footprints in the sands of the Gulf Of Arabia, the "I have not been on the Roof" photo!, the star shaped cauldron that spins and get's set on fire by one of the Cowboys doing the Hero Horse routine, the 'Seekers' boat in which he returns to Qatar after getting lost in 'Asia', the 'Sun Stage' (foreground) and the Eastern Stage (background & directly below my spot possie) under construction & the Cowboys and their charges running the pattern.)